Sunday, January 19, 2014

2013, it has been amazing and super eventful. Although, probably the year with the highest highs and the lowest lows in my life... At the end of each year I usually write a list of fun, crazy, sad, cool, memorable things and events that have happened during the year. It is a fun way to recap the past 365 days and it makes you realize how much you actually do in a year!

Here is my list of things for 2013, in chronological order (or at least the ones that are appropriate enough to post here )

I went to Turkey

... And experienced their coldest winter in 15 years. I slept with three layers of clothes, two down bed covers, a blanket, gloves, and a scarf - and was still freezing!

I trained really hard

Visited my sister and one of my best friends in London

I went to Spain for three weeks

... And did my first 8c+, went on spontaneous adventures with Sasha DiGiulian and had lots of fun

Competed in the Tierra Boulder Battle @ Klättercentret, Stockholm

... Climbed with a sparkling dress, built a super crimpy boulder (route) problem and placed second in the competition!

I won the Swedish Bouldering Championship

Celebrated my 21st birthday - American style

I went to Zillertal

... Rain, 7 degrees (in June..!) but still had a good time

Got sick and missed the European Lead Championship in Chamonix and the two first Worldcups

Went to an amazing rooftop concert with Matt Corby ♡♫

Applied to univeristy

Got accepted to university

Went to Colombia for three (!) days to compete at the World Games and placed 6th!

... Injured my finger the day before the competition in Colombia...

Moved to my own apartment downtown

Started university at the Stockholm School of Economics

Injured my finger again...

... And decided to take one month off climbing to let my finger heal

... Which turned into two months of practically no training at all due to illness a fracture in a toe and an inflammation in a knee...

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sometimes things simply do not go your way. Writing this I have practically not been able to train for almost two months..! It all started at the World Games in Colombia in August. The day before the competition I injured my right middle finger. I decided that the best option was to pursue with caution so I competed, actually without experiencing any pain at all. Thinking it was not a serious injury I continued training as normal when I got back home. It worked out fine until one session in late September. Pain, swollen and all blue. Diagnose: most likely a (partly) ruptured upper pulley. After consulting doctors and people with knowledge in the field, I decided to take one month off climbing to let my finger heal.

Injuries suck! But since I started university at the end of August this gave me time to adapt to the student life and getting used to studying again. One month passed and I felt more eager than ever to climb. But no, I managed to catch tonsillitis and had to take antibiotics for ten days. After recovering from the illness I missed climbing more than I ever thought I could and was ready to finally start training again. But no, I got a fracture in one of my toes and then an inflammation in my knee... Seriously? Cherry on top, add studying for exams too.

Studying and rehab training

Well, experiencing setbacks and not being able to do one of the things you love the most in life certainly put things in perspective. All this was a reminder that that in the end the best you can do is to accept the situation and make the best you can out of it - and try to stay positive! This week I was back on the wall again. Although feeling very out of shape, I can definitely say that I have never appreciated climbing this much. I am really motivated to train and get back in the game! However, as for the rest of this season, I will not be able to do any of the remaining World Cups but hopefully going to Spain to climb outside during in December or January!

Spain ♥ Photo: Jonas Wiklund

As I mentioned earlier all this has given me time to focus on school. It was really a transition to start studying again, but I really like it is so much fun! It is very stimulating and inspiring to face all these new challenges and have gotten know the most amazing people.

Thanks to all my friends, family and trainers who have all been very supportive the past couple of weeks ♥

On friday I am going on a quick (and rather spontaneous) visit to NYC to train and hang out with one of my best friends Sasha Digiulian wihooo =)

Friday, August 9, 2013

One competition, two continents, four countries and six flights - in five days. Intense? Yes. Was it worth it? YES. Puh, it has definitely been a couple of hectic days. I just got back from Cali, Colombia after competing at the World Games, which is like the Olympics but for non-Olympic sports. The competition went far better than I had expected and I finished in 6th place!

Prior to leaving for Colombia I felt rather nervous as I had a massive travel ahead of me. Additionally, I was very uncertain of my shape since I had not been able to train very well lately and not competed in lead for over six months. However, when competing the only thing you can actually control is your own performance, so my focus was to try to perform my very best and climb as well as possible. The semifinal went really well. I fell just a few moves before the top and was very satisfied with my climbing. This qualified me for finals in 3rd place, yay!

Climbing in finals went well up until 2/3 of the route where I suddenly slipped with my foot, barely being tired at all. Before I knew it I was back on the ground. Bummer! I finished in 6th place, which I am still very happy about.

To summarize I had an amazing time in Colombia. Just to compete at the World Games was a super cool experience. I had really missed competing so it felt nice to be back in the game. Also, it was my first (although short) time in South America. We actually managed to do quite a few things considering the short amount of time. The 2,5 days we had in Cali consisted in visiting the Cali Zoo, exploring some parts of the city and a famous market, lots and lots of taxi rides, hanging by the pool and eating a luxury breakfast at a 5-star hotel. This time I traveled with the Austrian team which was a lot of fun, thanks guys =)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

I love summer! For the first time ever I have actually been spending most of the time at home in Stockholm. I have never enjoyed my hometown as much as now! However, this was not what I had planned for the summer...

In June I had two fairly big setbacks in my climbing - I managed to tweak my back in Zillertal and then got a viscous virus which prevented me from training. This caused me to miss the European Championship in Chamonix and the first World Cup in Briançon. I was of course very unhappy about this. But you learn from all experiences and one way or another something good comes out of every situation. I allowed myself to a little mental break from climbing, which was good considering the fact that a lot of other things have been going on in my life lately. In the middle of July I found out I got accepted to the university I applied to, so from this fall I will be a student at the Stockholm School of Economics. My plan is to be able to combine my climbing and my studies (more about this in a later post). Also, I moved into town, to my own apartment! Two big steps in life, super happy and excited about this!

Anyways, now I am back to training as normal and I have been trying to get in some sort of shape. On thursday I am going to COLOMBIA for the World Games. Even though I am aware of that my fitness is not what it was earlier this year I am really looking forward on going there. It is going to be fun to compete again and in addition it will be my first time ever visiting South America =)

Friday, June 14, 2013

Rain, rain, rain, a bit of sun and a lot of fun - that would summarize my days in Zillertal. I went to the beautiful Zillertal valley in Austria for the annual Marmot team trip. I was really looking forward to climb at a new place and hang out with the other Marmot sponsored athletes. Unfortunately the weather the conditions refused to cooperate this time... First two days: RAIN. Third and last day: Sunny but most of the routes and boulders were still wet. Oh well... We got to do some climbing and despite the poor conditions everyone was still happy and motivated and we really did the best out of it. I am really happy to be working with Marmot, thanks for a fun trip guys!